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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22919989">Nature</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_of_the_Spirit/pseuds/Lady_of_the_Spirit'>Lady_of_the_Spirit</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Good Omens (TV), Good Omens - Neil Gaiman &amp; Terry Pratchett</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Cross-Posted on Tumblr, Gen, Light Angst, Post-Canon, denial of the ability to change while hanging out with the kids who killed you, discussion of free will and choices or lack thereof, except for death because he's chill, the horsepeople are back and the them are forcing them to be good</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 05:47:30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>853</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22919989</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_of_the_Spirit/pseuds/Lady_of_the_Spirit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>"What I don't understand," Adam began, "is why you have to do the things you do."</p><p>He bit into the scoop of strawberry ice cream perfectly placed on top of his cone and surveyed the scene in the garden before him. He was perched on top of the picnic table that had never seen a picnic before, but possibly would someday in the future. Summer was coming, after all, and summer picnics were certainly necessary for proper rehabilitation.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>The Horsepeople of the Apocalypse &amp; The Them (Good Omens)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>26</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Nature</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Part of an AU where the Horsepeople come back and the Them attempt to rehabilitate them. Partly based on my post on tumblr: https://lady-of-the-spirit.tumblr.com/post/187637212037/the-horsepeople-and-the-them</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"What I don't understand," Adam began, "is why you have to do the things you do."</p><p>He bit into the scoop of strawberry ice cream perfectly placed on top of his cone and surveyed the scene in the garden before him. He was perched on top of the picnic table that had never seen a picnic before, but possibly would someday in the future. Summer was coming, after all, and summer picnics were certainly necessary for proper rehabilitation.</p><p>"We do the things we do for the same reason the sky is blue," War said, "or for the same reason the world circles the sun." She raised her long stick (the one with the end sanded down so it was nearly harmless) towards Pepper, who wielded her wooden sword in nearly perfect form. War jabbed her stick forward, and Pepper parried the attack. </p><p>"Actually," Wensleydale began as War told Pepper to keep her feet centred, "the sky is blue because of the way the Earth's atmosphere scatters light from the sun, and the world circles the sun because of the sun's gravitational pull. So I don't think your reasoning makes any sense."</p><p>"What she means," Famine said, not looking up from the paperwork he had brought outside, "is that we do the things we do because it is just in our nature. It's the way we work, our own natural laws, the same kind of laws that make the sky blue and the Earth rotate around the sun."</p><p>"But you're not natural," Pepper said, looking over to Famine. War dropped out of her offensive stance and lowered her stick. "You said it yourself. You're just human fears and ideas, and besides that, you're <em>supernatural</em> beings. Supernatural beings don't follow <em>natural</em> laws."</p><p>SUPERNATURAL BEINGS FOLLOW LAWS JUST AS ANY NATURAL BEING DOES, Death said. The Grim Reaper sat comfortably on the bench of the picnic table next to Adam. THEY ARE NOT NATURAL TO HUMANS, BUT THEY ARE NATURAL NONETHELESS. WE DO THE THINGS WE DO BECAUSE THEY ARE WHAT WE WERE BORN TO DO. WE WERE BORN FROM IDEAS, AND WE CARRY OUT THOSE IDEAS. </p><p>"But here's the thing," Brian spoke up from where he had been digging weeds out of the dirt, "Adam is the Antichrist, and he was born to destroy the world, wasn't he?"</p><p>"That is what he was put here for," Pollution agreed. Dog was curled up in their lap as they leaned back and absorbed the sun's rays, occasionally running their hand through Dog's fur. Dog loved his life with Adam and would not trade it for anything, but sometimes he felt a homesickness for Hell, and Pollution's dirty hands giving him a pat or a scratch reminded him of it. </p><p>"But he didn't destroy the world," Brian said. "If he was born to destroy the world and he didn't, then doesn't that mean you don't have to do the things you were born to do?"</p><p>There was a lapse of silence in the garden. The three Horsepeople who weren't Death exchanged looks.</p><p>"Exactly," Pepper said. "Look, we all know Death can't not do what he does, because everything dies someday and it's all part of life. But the rest of you were meant to carry out the apocalypse after Adam began the apocalypse. But Adam <em>didn't</em> begin the apocalypse, so you <em>didn't</em> carry anything out."</p><p>"Exactly," Adam said as he finished his ice cream. "So why do you still have to do things? Why can't you do what I did and not do things? Break out of your roles and all of that."</p><p>The Horsepeople didn't answer at first. </p><p>Truth be told, they had all thought about that a lot after the failed Apocalypse, after they had returned to their corporeal forms. Their one purpose in life, spreading war and famine and pollution and death at the end of the world, had all been for nothing. It had been a harsh reality to return to - that everything they were meant for had been meaningless. </p><p>It was still hard to come to terms with, even almost a year later. </p><p>"Because you were raised human," Famine said finally once the silence had gone on for too long. "You were raised to believe you had choices." </p><p>"Being created for a purpose isn't the same as being created from an idea," Pollution said, opening their eyes and staring at the sky. "It's everything we are. There's no breaking free from it."</p><p>"That sounds like you're restricting yourselves," Wensleydale said. "Have you ever tried doing something else?"</p><p>"It goes against our nature," War said, blocking a surprise attack from Pepper. "Remember how you took us down? Challenging our ideals destroyed us more than running us through with a sword."</p><p>"Well, there's still time for you to change," Adam said in a declaratory tone. "And you were created from human ideas, so maybe there's enough human in you to have a choice like we do."</p><p>Brian handed a flower crown of daisies over to Pollution, who made a face and didn't put in on their head but ran their fingers over the petal tips. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hope you like this!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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